Landon Lassiter jumps for joy after scoring a run in UNC's decisive sixth-inning rally Tuesday

CHAPEL HILL – When you think of the top overall seed in a postseason tournament, the mind conjures up images of dominant teams steamrolling through the competition the way Kentucky’s basketball national champions did in 2012.

North Carolina has been anything but that so far in this NCAA baseball tournament.

The Tar Heels have made errors at the worst possible times, had their best hitters go cold and their starting pitchers get roughed up on a regular basis. They’ve faced deficits in virtually every postseason game they’ve played, several times, into their final at bat.

And yet, somehow or another, coach Mike Fox’s team has still managed to find its way back to Omaha for its sixth College World Series in the last eight years.

UNC punched its latest ticket Tuesday afternoon in what is rapidly becoming its trademark fashion – falling behind early, then finding a way to squeak by late in beating South Carolina 5-4 in the deciding game of its best-of-three Super Regional series.

While lopsided scores and easy victories make for good headlines, the true mark of a champion is learning to win when everything isn’t going according to plan. It’s a knack these Tar Heels have perfected to a science over these past few weeks.

On this occasion, they came from two down in the sixth with the tying run scoring on an error and the eventual winning run coming across the plate on a bases loaded walk to No. 9 hitter Parks Jordan.

“We just have a lot of confidence late in the game,” said All-America third baseman Colin Moran, who had been batting just .231 in the postseason before hitting an RBI triple that keyed the decisive sixth inning turnaround. “It kind of builds over time. It’s hard not to be confident, no matter how much you’re down, after how much we’ve come back.”

Their latest game-winning rally was benign by comparison, especially considering that they had to survive a 13-inning marathon – in which UNC faced multiple-run deficits in both the bottom of the ninth and 12th – just to get out of the regionals.

In some ways, though, Tuesday’s comeback might have been even more impressive because of the circumstances that made it necessary.

The Tar Heels (57-10) were ahead by a run with two out in the fifth when Gamecock shortstop Joey Pankake lofted a lazy fly to center. It should have been an easy catch for the usually reliable senior Chaz Frank.

Only this time, it wasn’t.

The ball bounced off Frank’s glove to the Boshamer Stadium turf, allowing two runs to score.

It was an unthinkable error that would have taken the life out of a lesser team, especially one playing under the pressure of such high expectations. But not UNC.

Freshman Trent Thornton was the winning pitcher in both of UNC's Super Regional victories

Instead of allowing the situation to become even worse, ace reliever Trent Thornton kept the bump on the road to Omaha from becoming a massive sinkhole by striking out USC’s best hitter – L.B. Dantzler – to end the inning with runners on second and third.

“We haven’t given up all year,” said Thornton, the winning pitcher in both of the Tar Heels’ Super Regional victories. “I knew (Frank’s error) wasn’t going to be the deciding factor in this game. You’ve got to keep your composure out there on the mound and focus on the next guy.”

Even though the Gamecocks scored again in the top of the sixth to increase their lead to 4-2, Thornton’s damage control allowed his team to stay close enough for the inevitable comeback to take place.